


How Good are You at Math?

by niknakdeviant



Category: Detroit Evolution - Fandom, Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Detroit Evolution Artfest (Detroit: Become Human), Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:14:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25594114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/niknakdeviant/pseuds/niknakdeviant
Summary: What would happen if the DE characters were the players in “Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors” of the Zero Escape series? The second I saw this prompt for #DEArtfest, this idea immediately came to mind and I knew I had to write it. I hope I did the game and the DE characters justice!
Relationships: Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Kudos: 14





	How Good are You at Math?

The door flies open from the flood of rushing water, flinging Gavin practically face first into the wall of the hallway from the force of it all. 

“Fuck!”

Gavin quickly looks left and right, but sees nothing but a long hallway with closed doors. 

“Where the fuck am I?”

Gavin starts to go left, then right, unable to make up his mind. In his hesitance, the water has continued to quickly rise and has started to reach knee-level.    
  


“Shit.” Gavin goes right and runs as best as he can through the rising water until he comes across a set of stairs. He looks down over the railing and sees it is completely flooded on the floors below. 

_ What is this? Am I on a boat or something? _

With no other choice, Gavin runs up the stairs and finally hears voices of other people shouting. 

“Hurry!” 

“Check over there.”

“No, it’s completely flooded over there.”

He gets to the top of the stairs and runs into a wall...or actually a chest. 

“Hey, watch where you’re-”

“Move, we need to check this exit.”

“What?” The guy pushes past Gavin without another word.  _ What the hell is going on?! _

Moving forward, Gavin finds himself standing in an ornate lobby, almost like something out of  the Titanic the decor is so cliche. Marble floors, oak stairs and columns, metal ceilings, gilded walls... _ we’re definitely on a boat _ .  _ But what’s with the freaky doors? _ On one door is a giant painted 4, and on another is a giant painted 5, dripping in red so bright it looks like fresh blood. As he’s looking around, the voices he heard from before turns into a group of people who gather around in the lobby. 

“That was the last exit, still no way to get out,” says the guy Gavin ran into, coming back from the dead end stairs. Now that Gavin has a chance to actually look at him, instead of a wall he’s more like a Terminator in a white leather jacket. A walking tin can but with piercing blue eyes and a Ken-doll face.  _ Fuck, he’s hot. _

“He’s right. Everything is locked or flooded with water over on this side.” Gavin jumps at the voice next to him, almost a carbon-copy of Tin Can but with more of a Boy-Next-Door look and sappy puppy eyes. 

“Ok, what the fuck is going on?” 

“You think any of us have a clue?” This voice belongs to a disheveled old man wearing a way too loud printed shirt.

“We don’t know what’s going on either,” says the middle-aged dad who looks like he just wants to be back home with his wife and kids. “I woke up in a room and had to do some sort of puzzle to get out. Then I found all of you.” 

The rest of the group consists of Basic Instinct who looks bored to tears, a lesbian power couple ready to take out anyone or anything who tries to harm their girlfriend ( _ Or wife? _ Gavin hoped they were married, they looked cute together.), and a jittery looking kid wearing a fucking neon blue boa. After swapping stories, it appeared that they all seemed to have had a similar experience, with Gavin having the liveliest experience of almost drowning, lucky him. No one knew where they were or remembered how they got there.

“All I remember is seeing some guy appear behind, T, but when I went towards him everything just went black. I didn’t get a good look at him though, he was wearing like a cloak or some kind of disguise,” said one half of the power couple.

“Aw, babe.” T, as she’s apparently called or nick-named, wraps her arm around the other’s which shows a wedding ring on her hand.  _ Definitely wife, cute. _

Tin Can put his hand on his chin, deep in thought. “So, we all agree that someone or a group of people have kidnapped us and brought us here, but are unable to recall how or why. And the only unique identifier on us are these watch-like accessories we each have with a numbered face.” 

“How enlightening, genius,” snarked Gavin. “We know nothing. Well, I mean, we’re on a boat, right?”

“What astute observational skills you have.”

Gavin and Tin Can shoot daggers at each other. BoaBoy snickers and his sunglasses almost fall off of his head. Tin Can helps put them back in place. 

“Fun glasses.”

BoaBoy goes to say thanks when a voice comes on from an overhead speaker. 

“Welcome aboard. I welcome you all, from the bottom of my heart, to this, my vessel.” The voice echoes crackling with a hint of static.

“What? Who is that?” shout Tired Dad and Basic Instinct. 

“I am Zero...The captain of this ship. I am also the person who invited you here.” 

“Hey asshole, get out here! What the hell is this?” BoaBoy acts tough, but looks like he values his skeletal integrity more than being able to handle himself in a fight. 

“What do you mean to do to us?” Puppy Eyes demands.

“I mean to have you participate in a game. The Nonary Game. It is a game...where you will put your life on the line.”

“What the fuck is a nonary game?” Gavin hisses.

Basic Instinct rolls her eyes. “If you’d shut up for two seconds he’s going to explain.”

“You got a problem or something?”

“Shut up!” Old Man hollers, effectively shutting everyone up.

“The rules of the Nonary Game can be found upon your persons. They are simple rules. Read them.”

“Hey, there’s something in my pocket!” T pulls out a single sheet of paper. They all pat around in their pockets until they each find they all have the same piece of paper on their person.

_ We will call them the [numbered doors]. The doors in front of you are a pair of the same. The key to opening these numbered doors are the [numbered bracelets] that each of you possess. Should you total the numbers on your [numbered bracelets] and find that the [digital root] of that number is equal to the number of that door, the door will open. Only those who have opened the door may pass through. There are, however, limits. Only [3-5] people can pass through one numbered door. All those who enter must leave, and all who enter must contribute. The purpose of the game is simple. Leave this ship alive. It is hidden, but an exit can be found. Seek a way out...Seek a door that carries a [9]. _

“So this thing on my arm is a bracelet?” Gavin brandishes his arm towards the speaker. Everyone rolls their eyes and turns their attention back to Zero.

“There is one last thing I must tell you. As you have no doubt surmised, the ship has begun to sink…9 hours. That is the time you will be given to make your escape.”

A bell tolls striking the hour, ringing 9 times. 

“I heard 9 strikes,” says Tired Dad. “We would need to escape by 6:00 or 18:00. Whether it’s morning or night, there’s no way of telling.”

“Now is the time. Let our game begin. I wish you all the best of luck.”

“Hey you bastard! What the fuck do you mean by that?” Gavin shouts. But his anger falls on deaf ears. Zero is gone, at least for the moment.

Everyone stands around in the silence, contemplating everything they have just heard. 

“But what’s a nonary game?” Old Man whispers to himself.

“Ha, the old fart doesn’t get it either!” Gavin smirks at him in triumph.

“Shut the fuck up.”

Tin Can tries to explain. “We each have a number on our bracelets. So, take this example, if those who have bracelets 8, 3, 6, and 5 want to go into a room, their numbers added together equal 22. So, the digital root of 2 + 2 is 4. Those four individuals can go into door 4.”

“To make sure that we can all go into the rooms together, we need to determine the correct pattern that will allow all of us to continue to the next room without breaking the rule of 3-5 people per door,” Puppy Eyes adds. 

Gavin looks contemplative. “So basically if we take turns adding up what could make the team assignments and identify the digital room, that team can go through the numbered door,” he repeats as if he’s the one who figured everything out.

Tin Can and Puppy Eyes sigh, exasperated. “Yes.”

“Well then.” Everyone turns to Basic Instinct who looks around the group with a Cheshire grin. “Now that we know the rules, who wants to go first?”

**Author's Note:**

> In order of appearance and who I imagined as I was writing:
> 
> Gavin = Junpei (5)  
> Nines/Tin Can = June (6)  
> Connor/Puppy Eyes = Lotus (8)  
> Hank/Old Man = Ace (1)  
> Chris/Tired Dad = Seven (7)  
> Ada/Basic Instinct = 9th Man (9)  
> Valerie/Power Couple = Snake (2)  
> Tina/T = Clover (4)  
> Lazzo/BoaBoy = Santa (3)
> 
> I really hope you enjoyed this! It has been years since I’ve written anything creative and this is my first post on archiveofourown (and any platform really). This was really hard trying to describe the characters without you actually being able to see them and relying only on dialogue since I didn’t want to use the DE characters’ names to match the style of the Zero Escape games. And hopefully I fixed all of the tenses so it wasn’t switching! That has always been a bad habit of mine when writing. I’m sorry if the characters or the dialogue sounds off, I’m a bit rusty! I’m happy I was able to put this idea together, I just thought it was such a cool idea combining the two games. Do you agree with my character list or would you imagine them differently?


End file.
